Re: CO2 sequestration

[Chuck Britton <cvbritton@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Big Money air liquefaction is currently done to provide liquid oxygen
to the medical industry.
LN2 is a useful byproduct of this $$$$ maker.
LCO2 is also - and is now used at virtually every soda-fountain
instead of high pressure tanks. Check the back of every fast-food
joint for the storage tank.

Dry cleaning is now being done with LCO2.

LCO2 can be REAL cheap (and available) if the will is there.

At 2:36 PM -0800 11/9/04, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
> The objection I had to CO2 liquefaction and then putting into the ocean
> * was the cost.  [note this method has already been discussed, but I
> don't think the cost was estimated]
>
> * If the separation can be done w/o liquefaction, it can be directly
> pumped down.
>
> The US CO2 production is ~ 2.5 b tons/yr.  Currently liq. is ~ $5/ l
> (retail, 10 l min.).  The density is sl > water @ -20 C and ~ 20 Atm.
> I stopped at this point to check the depth of a typical near shore
> trench (good one here off Monterey) and its temp., then found a new
> (this) thread.  However, I leave it to someone else to continue, or
> point out the previous time this was discussed (a year ago?) it was $X/
> whatever.    Of course if the US seriously pursued this method the cost
> would be 10% or even less, especially since it would be wholesale.
> Earlier this cent. (I still think we're in the 20ieth) huge air
> liquefaction plants were common to make mfg'd gas from coal.  I wonder
> if the Lurgi process would end up w/ a net removal of carbon.  The Lurgi
> process reminds me of a breeder reactor.
>
> bc
>
> John Denker wrote:
>
> > Chuck Britton wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > > Anytime we decide to, we can begin removing CO2 from the atmosphere
> > > and quickly return the CO2 levels back to preindustrial levels.
> >
> >  From the atmosphere?  Really?
> >
> >
> >
> > > CO2 can be liquefied quite easily.
> >
> > How easily?  At what cost?  Removing it from the open
> > atmosphere (as opposed to a concentrated CO2 sample)?
> >
> >  > Storage needs to be considered.
> >
> >
> > > Deep ocean trenches would give us the 'out-of-sight, out-of-mind'
> > > advantage. Others are pursuing the idea of stuffing the liquid CO2
> > > back into the gas wells from whence it came.
> >
> > "Needs to be considered" and "pursuing" are not the words
> > normally associated with successful methods that can be
> > used "anytime we decide to".
> >
> >
> >
> > > Personally, I rather like the ocean idea (but someone will have to
> > > convince us that the Lake Nyos  thing is not likely to occur.)
> >
> > The "Lake Nyos thing" seems rather worse than a fly in the
> > ointment.
> >
> > =================
> >
> > I did some googling just now.
> >   *) I was unable to find any evidence that it is economically
> >    feasible to separate CO2
> >    -- from the open atmosphere,
> >    -- from mobile sources (i.e. transportation), or
> >    -- from small-scale sources (i.e. residential and industrial
> >     heating).
> >   *) I was unable to find any storage schemes that looked
> >    safe in the long term and economically feasible.
> >
> > If anybody knows of a serious feasible proposal, please let
> > us know.  A pilot plant, perhaps?
> >
> > Note that the envelope of economic feasibility is capped by
> > the cost of things like closed-carbon-cycle fuels (i.e. bio
> > fuels, as opposed to fossil-carbon fuels) and non-carbon
> > power sources (e.g. solar photovoltaic).